Thought Leadership

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have released a joint report on Hong Kong’s digital evolution in ecommerce, food services and creative industries. Titled Explore Opportunities in Hong Kong's Digital Ecosystem, it highlights Hong Kong’s connective role in business between the world and Asia Pacific, as well as the increased agility of its digital ecosystem has developed following the disruptions brought by COVID-19.

The report draws on the knowledge, data and experience of PwC professionals, industry experts and leading market players. Among the contributors from the creative sector was Pico’s Gregory Crandall, who remarked: “Hong Kong is a city at the intersection of trends and ideas from East and West, within easy reach of major markets in mainland China and around Asia, and is itself a vital market for brands from around the world. Hong Kong also offers a well-educated, sophisticated and diverse workforce.”

For Pico, all the qualities mentioned by Crandall were more prized than ever during recent months. According to the report:

Established in 1969 in Singapore and headquartered in Hong Kong, Pico is a global total brand activation company that has always been an innovator, quick to embrace new technologies and concepts. Their ability to drive change has transformed them into a global Group with a workforce of over 2,000 in 36 cities.

Recently, when clients ranging from show organisers and associations to global finance, tech, telecoms, automotive and esports brands suddenly found their traditional means of operating severely curtailed, Pico drew on years of digital expertise to create their own virtual and hybrid solution set…

In the last year, Pico has delivered a dizzying variety of online product launches, virtual exhibitions, conferences, showrooms, fashion shows, sporting events and festivals for clients around the globe. As with traditional in-person brand experiences, Pico pushed for creative content using technologies such as VR and AR, and techniques such as gamification to engage and excite clients’ unique audiences from the safety of their own homes.

An increasing number of Pico’s clients are coming to appreciate virtual and hybrid experiences on their own merits, rather than as a temporary substitute for the ‘real’ thing. Indeed, virtual events offer the prospect of bigger, more far-flung integrated audiences. Pico is taking it further by driving creative spaces where the pipelines of live audiences and virtual audiences combine and feed and interact with each other. Just as Pico envisioned years ago when they began their digital journey, virtual and integrated experiences are set to continue as a significant part of the company’s business in the post-pandemic future, right alongside ‘pure’ in-person events. It means clients can rely on Pico to ‘connect the dots’ across total brand activation, experiential marketing and digital expertise, using know-how gained over 50 years of service. It’s a recipe for more exciting, more engaging brand experiences yet to come.